The Weekly Anthropocene, April 24 2024
FOOD FROM THIN AIR in Finland, mangroves, butterflies, & bees in Brazil, solar in South Africa, an urban elephant seal in Canada, American high-speed rail is (at last!) happening, and more!
Finland
In an unassuming factory building near Helsinki, Finland, an incredibly epic revolution in food production has reached a major milestone (thanks to some European Union funding support). Startup Solar Foods has just turned on their Factory 01, which they estimate will ramp up the their microbe-brewed protein powder Solein to a whopping 160 tons per year. Producing one kilogram of Solein uses just 1% as much water and 5% as much arable land as an equivalent amount of plant protein, while emitting just one-fifth as much carbon. And Factory 01 is making it happen at unprecedented scale; they will produce the same amount of protein per day as a 300-cow dairy farm! Lessons learned from this project will soon inform the construction of a much bigger Factory 02.
It’s hard to overstate what a truly amazing technological advance this is. Solein is formed by microbial fermentation (similarly to how beer is brewed) with electricity, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen, and small quantities of key nutrients as the only inputs.
The final product is described as a powder resembling turmeric and tasting like “a light, nutty mix of cashews and almonds,” capable of being used as an enriching ingredient in almost anything, from gelato to noodles to snack bars. It consists of “65-70% protein, 5-8% fat, 10-15% dietary fibres and 3-5% mineral nutrients,” a profile similar to soy. In other words, Solein is the first time in human history when edible calories have been produced and eaten without photosynthesis providing some of the energy, and now it’s being produced at an industrial scale.
If this technology continues to scale up- and it really looks like it’s going to - then humanity has within its grasp the technological means to quite easily make sure that no one goes hungry, ever again. We probably could have done that eventually just by continuing our progress in agriculture, but this might make it a lot easier and faster. Spectacular work!
“Factory 01 demonstrates it is possible to grow protein from start to finish under one roof, year-round even in the harsh Northern conditions of Finland – and to do it all sustainably and in a commercially viable manner.”
-CEO Pasi Vainikka
Brazil
In March 2024, deforestation alerts in Brazil fell to a five-year low despite the ongoing drought and fires. Satellite tracking recording 162 square kilometers of forest cut down that month, which brings the total loss over the previous twelve months to 4,816 km2. That’s 53% lower than the previous one-year period, and the lowest deforestation in a one-year period registered since May 2019! Lula’s law-and-order environmentalism continues to bear fruit.
On March 21, 2024, Brazilian President Lula da Silva signed a decree establishing Filhos do Mangue and Viriandeua as two new mangrove reserves near the mouth of the Amazon river. In the new reserves, local communities retain rights to hunt, fish, and collect medicinal plants, but large-scale mangrove threats like oil and gas drilling or shrimp aquaculture are prohibited. When added to numerous existing reserves, this means that almost all of the Pará state coastline is now protected, forming the largest and most conserved continguous belt of biodiverse, carbon-sequestering mangrove ecosystems on Earth!
A fascinating new study has used genetic analysis and mapping to find that Heliconius elevatus, a multicolored butterfly native to the Amazon Rainforest, is a species created by the hybridization of two other species, born from long-ago matings between two other species (H. melpomene and H. pardalinus) that resulted in a unique and self-reproducing1 mix of wing colors, pheromone composition, and other characteristics. This “evolutionary holy grail” of a result is yet more evidence that hybridization often brings long-term benefits to biodiversity; an encouraging sign for Anthropocene Earth’s future2 as climate change and human actions cause many species to move around the world and mate with strangers. New biological riches can result!
A team of researchers studying stingless bees in Brazil have identified concrete evidence for a non-human species passing on knowledge across generations without genetic instincts or direct social learning, meeting some strict definitions of “culture.” A new study reports that different colonies from the same stingless bee species (Scaptotrigona depilis), like difficult groups of humans, have different “architectural styles” when building their nests: a majority of colonies use concentric circles-based “parallel style,” while a few build in spiral “helicodial style” instead.
When the researchers transplanted experienced workers from one colony to the emptied nest of another colony built in the other style (they tried it “both ways,” so to speak, moving helicoidal-style workers into empty parallel nests and vice versa), the workers quickly learned to build in the style of the empty nest they had been moved to, despite having been born into a different style and not having any other bees to learn the new style from. Fascinating! The more we learn about bees, the more interesting they become.
South Africa
A massive clean power project combining 540 MW of solar with 225 MW of battery storage has been switched on in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. (Notably, it was selected to be built after outperforming fossil fuels on cost in a competitive bid; the new economies of the renewables revolution strike again!) The Kenhardt facility’s 456 shipping container-sized battery units and nearly 1 million solar panels, built by Norwegian firm Scatec, add up to form one of the largest solar/battery hybrid projects in the world - although this will likely seem small by comparison in a few years, as renewables continue to boom across China, India, America, and the EU!
South Africa, still mostly dependent on aging coal plants, has been experiencing blackouts in recent years to such an extent that many homeowners are switching to rooftop solar; this project will help boost the beleaguered grid with reliable clean energy! Great news.
Canada
The province of British Columbia has signed a historic “Rising Tide” title lands agreement with the Haida Nation, recognizing Haida sovereignty over the 200+ islands of the Haida Gwaii archipelago, a 10,000 km2 land area larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined. In practice, this means that after two years, the vast majority of the remote forested archipelago that is currently Canadian government “Crown land,” including protected areas and will be returned to the Haida Nation - the agreement won’t affect private property (less than 2% of Haida Gwaii’s land area) or town governments. Notably, this essentially gives the Haida Nation control over the logging industry on the island (historically a contentious area), which will likely result in more conservation-tilted land management. Great news!
In a charming microcosm of human/wildlife coexistence, a young northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) dubbed “Emerson” has once again returned to the heart of the city of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. Hunted to near-extinction in the 1800s, northern elephant seals have bounced back to a thriving population of over 100,000 individuals, and this particular individual appears to have chosen a major city as his home, often sighted on local beaches, crossing roads, and in flower beds and city parks. Due to concern about harassment from humans (selfie-seekers, dogs, etc), officials had relocated Emerson to distant, wilder beaches several times, but he kept coming back. His most recent homecoming was a record-breaker; after being driven to a beach 125 miles away on April 5th, he was back in Victoria just one week later, an extraordinary feat of endurance swimming even for such a majestic pinniped. Local authorities are reportedly now focusing on urging humans to give him space. Often, wild animals positively prefer to live in human-dominated landscapes!
In other unexpected bee news, a recent study from a Canadian university found that hibernating queens of the common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) can survive up to a week submerged in water, a rare ability even among hibernating insects. The discovery was originally made due to a laboratory accident, and when later tested at scale found that 81% of hibernating bumblebee queens submerged for seven days survived, compared to just 88% of a non-submerged control group! This should give their species an edge in surviving extreme flooding events.
United States
At his recent Earth Day speech, President Biden touched on the Inflation Reduction Act and its new $7 billion community solar program, the launch of the American Climate Corps, nationwide land and water conservation work, and more! Photos above from Reuters. The American Climate Corps is now hiring at ClimateCorps.gov! Also check out the new federal conservation information hub at Conservation.gov.
“You’ll get paid to fight climate change, learning how to install those solar panels, fight wildfires, rebuild wetlands, weatherize homes, and so much more…It’s going to protect the environment to build a clean energy economy.”
-President Biden on the American Climate Corps.
And in some truly HUGE and really inexplicably under-reported news, construction has begun on America’s first true high-speed rail line! It will be built by rising star company Brightline on the median of Interstate 15, cleverly evading land acquisition issues by using existing federal land on the path of a preexisting highway, and will link Las Vegas with the cities of Southern California.
If all goes well, the first high-speed rail link in America (it’s all-electric as well!) could be finished in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics! The trains can make the trip in just two hours, traveling at 186 miles per hour while offering restrooms and Wi-Fi. Absolutely spectacular news; the long-held dream of American high-speed rail is becoming a reality thanks to the Biden Administration!
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades. It’s really happening this time.”
-U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
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